


Boundless

by SleepyBirdie



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Angst?, Developing Friendships, Exploration of Love, F/M, Friends to Best Friend, Friendship/Love, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, sorta angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 04:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13426821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyBirdie/pseuds/SleepyBirdie
Summary: In which first love, does not equal last love, and friendships are at least a constant in-between the changes. Or in other words, I love you.Dongho learns love.Or in other words, the soulmate baekmin AU that no one really wants.





	Boundless

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfic in forever...and it's... I don't quite know what it is, but I tried and I can only hope that the character seems believable somewhat. I've always imagined Dongho to be more emotionally strong than he lets on.
> 
> Soulmate AU: Where when two soulmates meet, a mark forms on their wrist, telling them they had met their other half. The mark pulses with the emotion the other feels.

 

Dongho has known since the first day they had met, that Minhyun was the one. It happened in the very stereotypical way, an unexpected meeting, a coincidence in life, yet there had been no sparks, no extraordinary overwhelming feelings as his mother had put it, but a simple feeling of contentment, akin to the satisfaction of a puzzle piece being correctly slotted into place. As his palms covered the glowing mark on his wrist in the kitchen as he slaved over dinner, and as his new bandmate marveled at his own in the living room, Dongho also knew that things were going to be inevitably complicated. Meeting one’s soulmate was one thing, meeting them while in the midst of youth, training to be idols, and stuck in Seoul for the holidays was another.

 But they had time and innocence on their side still, children would be children, and the mark was forgotten over the tantalizing taste of spam and kimchi fried rice, and laughter.The would think nothing of it until they were older. They would grow, they would smile, they would laugh, and the mark remained as just that, an odd mark that occasionally flickered with vibrant hues. 

It would not be until after they debut that Dongho figured out a new use for the mark. The pulsating brand on his wrist was a murky grey. Years into their friendship he had learned to decipher the nuances of the changing colors. Pink for happiness, yellow for excitement, green for envy. The spectrum of colors mapped their ever-changing emotions and status but this one was new, this one was unexplored. So, it made complete sense to Dongho, to get up from his position in front of his computer, stretch his hunched back, and make his way towards Minhyun’s room. The mark almost felt warm as he closed the distance and as the soft sound of muffled sniffling flitted towards his ears, he stopped. His gaze dropped towards soulmate mark, the color stubbornly remained the same.

 His knuckles rapped against the wooden door and the shuffling inside stilled. 

 **“Minhyun-ah, let’s go out!”**  

Later as they took selfies by the Han River and drank cola, he would be pleased to find the mark a soft pink. 

This was good, he felt at peace like this.

Biking, midnight ‘dates’, the lovestagram, it was almost enough to distract him -them -from the downward spiral of their popularity. There was a sensation control to be had there, unlike the one that slipped from his hands with every weakening comeback. He was content with his place next to Minhyun, he was happy to find a family with Jonghyun, Aron, and Minki, but the truth was the truth. Their time together was shortening.

 It happens during the two weeks before their scheduled filming for Produce 101. It was a Sunday night, they laid a tangled mess on his bed, nursing a hangover that lingered with the bitter taste of reality. Laughter did not come easy, even as a fly flew right into Dongho’s closed window and laid a uselessly stunned mess atop scattered shirts.

**“Minhyun-ah…”**

**“Dongho…”**

Their names ring within a breath of each other and there is both understanding and fear in their gaze as they turn towards each other. The air does not turn hot, the room did not suddenly feel smaller, but their hearts do thump to the cadence of the scrape of branches against the windowpane. The kiss tastes as bitter as the alcohol they drank last night but it makes them sigh as their fingers laced together. Lips and teeth are a mash of shy tongue and eagerness, tinged with relief. 

Later when Minhyun is doing the laundry, Dongho realizes, as he runs his fingers over his wrinkled sheets that he is okay with this too. Their careers were not going the way they planned, but this unplanned relationship, it was something in this nothing. They at least had each other. 

Or at least, that was what he thought, what he hoped. 

 

* * *

 

 On the fourth week of filming for Produce 101, Dongho wishes he did not understand the change of color on his wrist. The flow from pink, to green, to grey, to gold, and then to red, and then again, was chaotic. Emotions mixed with one another and with that knowledge alongside the ones that were his own, his mind felt like a mess. Yet he smiled, he played, he bonded with the other trainees, but the nagging in the back of his mind does not stop. It grates at him and he finds himself spacing out more than he likes. He realizes soon after. Dongho’s grin is silly as he ruffles Guanlin’s hair, the younger laughing before smiling that gummy smile of his. The older does not look long as his eyes flicker towards Minhyun across the practice room.

 

He wonders if Minhyun realizes the look his has on his face, as he regards Jonghyun with a softness that looked a little bit more than brotherly. He blames it on the lighting and turns back towards his team as he is called. The palm that presses against the soulmate mark does not hide the understanding that croons at him in the back of his mind nor does it dim the colors leaking out from between his fingers.

He follows the familiar trail of silver-grey days later to find Minhyun curled up behind the stairwell. The cameras do not reach them here, but he ducks down anyway and stuffs himself right next to his best friend. Their shoulders brush and he feels more than hears the shudder that runs through the taller boy’s body. He feels the weight of Minhyun’s too big head against his shoulders, feels his finger’s part with Minhyun’s own and he waits. He counts. 

 

 _One_

_Two_

_Three_

**“Dongho…I.”** There is an unusual break in his voice, a stilt in conversation that usually came easily between the two talkative members of the group. Dongho squeezes his eyes shut and leans into Minhyun as his fingers tighten too. Their matching marks are pressed together, flushed. 

 **“I know, I know…”** And Dongho truly does. He may smile, he may laugh, but he was not as dense as he seemed. He chose to smile and be happy when he could, who wanted to be sad? Who wanted to see their parents ache as they struggled? With or without the mark, this might have been inevitable. Minhyun is his best friend, his soulmate, they understand each other despite their differences. Still… 

The silence stretches. Dongho has never been the one to wax words of wisdom, nor was he one to lie. He could not tell Minhyun that everything would be okay. Not when that was a lie. There was, however, one thing he could give… 

 **“I’ll be here for you, whenever you need me.”** His presence, himself, that was all he had to offer. What else could he give someone who had almost everything? Minhyun was -is- perfect, he is as beautiful as he is smart, he is kind, he is clean, he is the reason his mark glows green and pink in tandem. Despite all that, however.

  **“I’m still your friend.”** _I love you._  

Dongho’s mark on Minhyun’s wrist glows a pale red. He means it.

 

* * *

 

 It still glows that very same vibrant crimson years later as Dongho watches on the sideline. Minhyun is a nervous mess in front of him, hidden carefully behind eye smiles but the alternating hue of gold and lilac tells the older differently. Dongho hears the sound of a door opening, feels his best friend stiffening before the golden light leaks from beneath his suit’s sleeve. 

There is no protest when the priest utters, _“Speak now or forever hold your peace.”_

Minhyun is radiant as he recites his vows and leans in to kiss Jonghyun on the lips, a cheesy and dramatic twirl is added for effect. He hears Minki laugh behind him as Aron whoops with glee from Jonghyun’s side. Dongho feels his eyes trail away from the happy couple to the pair of dark orbs peering at him from the throng of guests. Dongho’s smile widens as he sees a flash of a pink tongue. His laugh is as warm as a summer’s day when he feels himself being dragged into a group hug. The grooms are a teary mess -not that they would _admit_ it- but everyone is distracted by the mass of five as they fall off the gazebo and sprawl onto the grass.

 Later that night, as he watches his ultimate best friend and other best friend awkwardly sway each other to a slow number on the dancefloor for exactly ten highly embarrassing seconds before Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ blares across the speakers and Minki has dragged Aron into starting an impromptu cha-cha line, the golden tone of the mark has solidified.

 Minhyun was euphoric and he…

 Feels a weight against his palms, dainty fingers lace between his own, and mismatched gold marks press against each other. 

 **“You are going to ~horribly~ dance with me, now.”** The jab demanded request was asked. 

He had found his peace too.

  

* * *

 

 **“Minhyun, are you happy?”** Jonghyun’s voice is barely heard over the drunken karaoke of friends and family that had attended the wedding and as they cha-cha-ed their way around the room. The taller is fond, trust him to worry on his _wedding day._ Pink dusts the rapper’s cheeks and its mirrored on Minhyun’s own as he glances down at his husband. 

 **“I am now.”** Minhyun cups Jonghyun’s cheeks with a gentle reverence and the smile grows as he notices the red on his wrist swirl together with gold.

He looks up to see Dongho leaning down, lips pressing gently against Kyulkyung’s head before being dragged away towards the rapidly growing dance-line.

 He truly is. _I love you, too._

 

* * *

  _A soulmate did not always mean a lover, a soulmate is a resonance of two souls. An understanding shared._

_Love is not romance. Love is as boundless as the galaxy, its variety as vast as the stars._


End file.
